On the Airship, after spending a little time doing a final equipment check and adjusting various personal items, Altaïr and Sajji began to rest.
Even though it wasn't even noon yet and they weren't sleepy at all, they both consumed a small amount of Sleep Herb to force themselves into slumber.
The situation for this mission was urgent; there would be no time for them to rest for a night and adjust after reaching the camp. They might have to fight the moment they hit the ground, and there was no telling when they would find another chance to rest. They had to be in peak condition before arrival.
The effect of the Sleep Herb was good; Altaïr slept soundly until a pair of hands slapped his shoulders firmly several times, waking him up.
Altaïr opened his eyes, and after a brief second or two of disorientation, his mind cleared. He looked at the Airship operator who had woken him. "Are we there?"
"Yeah, preparing to descend. We'll touch down in about twenty minutes." The Airship pilot returned to the helm.
"Alright, thanks."
Altaïr woke Sajji, who was curled into a ball beside him.
It was now around three or four in the afternoon. The sun was beginning its westward trek, but the light was still bright. Birds flew past the Airship from time to time, and the boundless Jungle beneath them looked brimming with life under the sunlight.
Unfortunately, Altaïr and Sajji had no time to admire a beautiful sight that would be a luxury to desert dwellers; they were busy moving their limbs and quickly warming up.
As the Airship descended steadily, the scenery below grew clearer.
"One o'clock direction! That's the village that sent the SOS!" the pilot shouted.
Altaïr hurried to the starboard bow. He could faintly see a river winding through the Jungle, and within a U-shaped bend in the river sat a village.
The village was not large, covering only about one or two hectares in total. It was surrounded by water on three sides, while the side connected to the Jungle was fenced off with sharpened logs. A large number of sharp wooden stakes were driven into the ground outside the wall at an angle.
The people in the village were clever; large trees grew around the village and even in the open spaces within it, with vines, likely cultivated by hand, entwined between the trees.
The canopy and vines formed an aerial barrier, making it difficult for Monsters to descend into the village from the sky.
This series of defensive installations was enough to deter small Monsters and even most large Monsters.
If a large Flying Wyvern of the caliber of a Rathalos or Nargacuga were determined to attack the village, these defenses likely wouldn't hold them back, but they would at least buy the villagers some time to escape.
Furthermore, with plenty of easily hunted prey in the Jungle, those powerful predators had little reason to exert such great effort and risk being impaled by sharp stakes just to attack a settlement.
"There are quite a few villages like this in the Jungle," the pilot said while adjusting the helm. "The villagers gather mountain goods from deep within the Jungle and transport them out via the river to be sold in Metapetatto.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Metapetatto was raised by these small villages. When they run into danger, we can't just ignore them..."
The Airship slowly descended to about twenty or thirty meters above the village. Any lower and they would easily get tangled in the canopy and vines, so they could only descend to this height before fast-roping down.
"Three or four kilometers due north, there's a withered, fallen giant tree; that's a hunter camp." The pilot handed over a map. "I'll land the airship there. If you need to rest or retreat, you can find me in that area."
"Understood." Altaïr took the map and tucked it away before tossing a roll of rope over the gunwale. "I'm leaving the extra supplies and replacement weapons on the airship. Please bring them to the camp for me and keep them in the Supply Box."
"No problem." The pilot nodded firmly. "I'll leave the rest to you. Stay safe."
Altaïr gave a reassuring gesture, and Sajji hopped onto his back, clinging tight. Altaïr tightened the straps on his weapon, grabbed the rope, and vaulted off the airship.
Sliding down the rope to the ground, he watched as the airship slowly ascended and vanished into the shadows of the dense canopy.
Altaïr rested his hand on the hilt of the Iron Gospel, warily scanning the surroundings. Sajji jumped down from his back as well, sniffing around in every direction.
After a moment, Sajji straightened up. "I don't smell any Monster scents, and there's no smell of blood, meow. It looks like no Monsters have broken into the village yet, meow."
In truth, Altaïr had already confirmed from the air that the wooden palisades and other defenses protecting the village were undamaged, but only now did he breathe a small sigh of relief.
After all, a Monster like a Nerscylla was perfectly capable of climbing into a village without damaging the outer walls. He couldn't afford to be careless.
The man and cat circled the small mountain village. They found no Monsters, and the livestock like Aptonoth were still in their beast pens, but the villagers were nowhere to be found.
Altaïr didn't find it particularly eerie; he had noticed some tracks during his search and had a good guess as to where the villagers had gone.
Entering the largest building in the village, he searched around and quickly located the entrance to the basement.
The entrance wasn't large, only about a meter in diameter, and the trapdoor was actually cast from pig iron, making it extremely sturdy.
The room was filled with a pungent, foul odor. Sajji couldn't help but cover his little nose, while Altaïr's gaze fell upon the filth scattered around the trapdoor, and he grimaced.
Monster dung, perfect for masking scents. Ordinary small Monsters would be startled into fleeing upon catching a whiff of it.
Desert nomads used Monster dung in a similar fashion, so he was quite familiar with the tactic.
Since such preparations had been made, it meant someone was definitely down there. Judging by the state of the village interior, the villagers should still be safe.
He gave Sajji a look, signaling him to keep watch outside. Altaïr lowered his visor to hide his youthful face, then drew his knife and tapped the metal trapdoor a few times in a rhythmic pattern with the hilt.
Before long, the trapdoor cracked open a sliver, and a pair of eyes peered out.
Upon seeing the fully armed Hunter crouching outside the entrance, the unease and wariness in those eyes vanished, replaced by joyful surprise.
"A Hunter is here!"
A clamor of voices drifted out, and then the trapdoor was pushed wide.
As the people inside moved to come out, Altaïr raised his palm in a "stop" gesture. "Don't be in a hurry to come out yet; the threat hasn't been neutralized.
Is anyone injured or missing? Someone, explain the situation."
There was another flurry of noise, but the sounds quickly subsided. A middle-aged woman, appearing to be in her forties or fifties, stepped onto a ladder and leaned halfway out. "Greetings, Lord Hunter. I am the Village Chief. The situation is roughly like this:
"Several heads of livestock have gone missing from the village recently, and then the herdsman who went out to graze them didn't return. The Hunter in our village realized something was wrong and went out to search.
"He came back very quickly and said he found traces of something suspected to be a... Nerscylla. He said the monster was very dangerous and that the herdsman had likely been snatched away. He told us he was going to find the nest to see if there was any chance of rescuing him.
"He told us that if he wasn't back by dawn, we should immediately release a falcon to ask the Guild for help and then take refuge in the basement."
Altaïr nodded; up to this point, it matched what he had learned from the quest information.
"Are all the villagers in the shelter?" Altaïr pressed further.
The Village Chief nodded. "Yes. At the time, I watched everyone hide in the basement before I was the last one to enter.
"Besides this one, there are two other basements in the village used for shelter. This one has the most people, twelve in total, which is more than half the village. The other two locations have fewer people."
"Is there still food and water?"
"Yes, enough to last a few days."
"That's good. Stay hidden in the basement and do not come out. The Guild will send more people later, so there's no need to worry.
"Where are the other two shelters? I'll go and check in with them."
"There is one under those row houses at the east end of the village. There is also a small cabin to the northeast near the river; that's the Hunter's house. A few people can hide there as well."
"The Hunter's cabin to the northeast..."
Altaïr recalled some of his findings from when he was investigating the village earlier. "You mentioned before that it's been a few days since the Hunter left to rescue the herdsman?"
"Since the evening of the day before yesterday."
This is trouble... Altaïr exhaled. "I saw a trail of footprints at the Hunter's cabin heading out of the village.
"The tracks were fresh, no more than a day old at most."
Glancing at the Village Chief, who had turned pale with horror, Altaïr said helplessly, "While everyone was hiding, someone ran out."
(Translated by yourtl.app)